Community Blog

Answer this one question and you’ll know: Do you ENJOY spending time in your apartment?

Loving your home and enjoying your surroundings are key elements to a full and happy life. Think about it: your apartment is HOME BASE. It’s your safety, your sanctuary and it SHOULD BE your peaceful center. And if you don’t love it, it probably won’t love you back!

If you and your apartment haven’t established your love relationship, NOW is the time to start working on it! Begin today by thinking of your apartment as a living, breathing organism that takes nurture and care to reach its full potential. As you coax your living space along, your apartment will become your favorite place  in the whole wide world – a place that conjures the feelings you find nourishing.

It’s a process to create an apartment home that serves as your peaceful center. The first step is to ask yourself what it is that you want from your apartment. Once you have established that, you can begin working toward that goal by eliminating the things that keep you from reaching it and replacing them with the things that get your there.

Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan is a great resource for getting your relationship with your apartment back on track!

When you LOVE your Northbridge apartment, it will love you back! Give your apartment a little hug by starting your therapy today!

Mark your calendar, gals! GIRLS NIGHT OUT is coming Tuesday, September 28 to the Village Country Club!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT is designed especially for our VILLAGE LADIES! If you’re a sassy, classy Village Lady, YOU are invited to an awesome evening of music, food, drinks and prizes along with cool stuff to see and buy and so much more!

Lincoln Charities will benefit from your $2 admission ticket at the door and you’ll benefit from a night out with your best girl buds. Bring a friend and have a blast at GIRLS NIGHT OUT at the VCC the 28th.

Keep your eyes peeled for more details to come!

Sorry guys! It’s a NO testosterone zone!

Here at Northbridge we can take our pick of awesome steak houses. From Bailey’s Prime Plus over on Park Lane to Kirby’s just down the street, there’s no shortage around here for a good hunk of beef! But how’s a well-behaved carnivore going to fully enjoy the steak experience when she’s got healthy eating on her mind and bloomin’ onions on her plate?

Thankfully, it is possible to choose wisely at a steak house and still enjoy the meal! With a few thoughtful selections, we CAN carve away those pesky, extra, unneeded calories and still satisfy the taste buds and tummy.

For instance, happy little house fries will likely add about 500 calories to your meal. A large baked potato in all its glory will leave your thighs battling an extra 300 calories. But if you go with those creamy, yummy, thoroughly decadent mashed potatoes, you’ll squeak through the spuds department barely topping out at the 250 calorie mark! Mash them puppies up and role around in them if you want … the caloric damage is minimal compared to the dreaded bloomin’ onion!

Being a purist when it comes to beef, I find it unfathomable that anyone would slather a fine steak with ANY type of sauce. Barbeque, Béarnaise … It’s all the same to me. You might as well put a ski mask on the Mona Lisa and march me backwards through the gallery. But if you MUST deface your steak, get a big black magic marker and mark Béarnaise OFF your list of options for the rest of your steak eating life. It’s the worst of sauce offenders as it’s simply egg yolk and butter. Oh Me! Wrong on so many levels! Instead, order something like Peppercorn, a brandy and beef stock based sauce or even blue cheese crumbles. Just a little bit will bejewel a steak with less catastrophic calorie consequences than most sauces and still leave a precious smile on Mona’s face.

I know you’ll groan when you read this next part, but in good conscience, I cannot do a post about eating healthy at a steak house and not address the meat itself. That would be negligent and irresponsible … of which, I am neither. The cut you select makes all the difference. I’ll just rip this bandage off in one fell-swoop and save us both the agonizing pain: Rib Eye has one-and-a-half times the fat of sirloin. It comes down to this, my steak loving friend … The more marble in the meat, the more fat upon your bum. Keep that in mind the next time you sit your bum down and entertain ordering that fat riddled Rib Eye from ole Bessy’s rib section.

A delightfully tasty middle ground is a strip steak. Of course, the leanest cut you’ll find on a menu (aside from my all time fav, a filet mignon) is a sirloin. Keep your serving size at 9 oz and you’ll stay under 500 calories, which will have you skipping all the way to the Village Health and Fitness Center next week!

The brilliant folks at Eat This Not That have come up with some more ways to eat healthy at your favorite steak house. How about you? Do you have any tips for fellow calorie counting carnivores?

Can you tell the state of your dog’s emotions by the way she wags her tail? Experts say you can!

A recent study published in Current Biology suggests not all tail-wags are equal. Apparently, animals brains are divided into left and right brain functions just like humans. While it’s believed that the left brain is used for things like finding food and basic survival needs, the right brain is where the fleeing response is generated. Since the tail is right in the middle of the body, researchers wondered a tail wag would change if the circumstances surrounding the dog changed.

Experiments using 30 mixed-breed dogs showed that dogs DID wag differently depending on what was presented to them. When the owner entered the room, dogs overwhelmingly wagged more on the right. When a strange dog was entered into the mix, dogs wagged considerably more to the left.

How does this help dog owners? By observing which side your dog is wagging more vigorously, you can gauge if your dog is happy and approachable or anxious and fearful.  When you think you know, you can take the necessary  steps to ease the strain or engage in happy play. It’s one more way to keep encounters with your pet enjoyable and safe.

How can we shop healthy AND save money at the Grocery Store with so many temptations at every turn? Step ONE: Wake up and smell the Bakery Department!

It takes some serious moxie to be strong against the many temptations at the supermarket these days. From the decadent aromas wafting from the Bakery Department to all the tasting stations strategically set up along the way, we’re doomed right from the start! I’d fare better if they’d just go ahead and pelt me with cookies at the door!

With all the crafty grocery store science used against us, it’s a wonder we don’t go into debt just EATING. Grocers are sooooo sneaky! For instance, the higher priced items are placed at eye level, while the bargain products of equal quality are banished to the bottom shelf in utter humiliation. And why? Because they cost less! Not nice and totally sneaky, indeed! Clearly, the odds ARE stacked against us.

It IS possible, in spite of the odds, to shop smart and make healthy choices at the grocery starting with a game plan and then sticking to it. Consider the following as a place to start:

Make a shopping list. Meal planning is essential to making a reasonable grocery list. Get out the calendar and meal plan for each day of the week.

Go in circles. For once, going in a circle actually gets you somewhere! Start by shopping the outside perimeter of the grocery first. These are typically where you find the healthy/fresh items in the store.

Eat first. Do not set foot outside your apartment door with an empty stomach! You WILL buy junk you don’t want or need. You know it’s true! We’ve all done it before. It’s an easy fix: Have a snack before you leave.

Be naughty. Allow yourself a treat or two. Decide before you arrive how many indulgences are allowed and stick with it. Don’t cheat. You KNOW who you are!

Fly solo. Don’t take the kids or the spouse or significant other, if possible. If there’s no one available to babysit your spouse, you must make the rules clear from the outset: everyone gets to pick one item for her or his very own (or whatever suits your style). Just be reasonable and don’t give in when the bargaining begins.

What are your healthy and smart grocery tips? Click the comment button and share!

Central 214 American Food and Cocktails is pleased to participate in the annual KRLD Restaurant Week, August 16 -22!

Your 3-course gourmet meal is being planned and prepared just for you at Central 214.  For only $35 per person they’ll serve the finest of salads, grilled ribs with chimichurri, pan seared halibut, smoked brisket-jalapeno cornbread, banana bread pudding and SO MUCH MORE! See the full MENU and make your plans.

Not only will you indulge in fine dining at an amazing price, but a portion of the proceeds from this event will go to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. Simply by enjoying a great evening out for food, wine and ambiance, you’re actually helping to make a difference in the community!

You’re only minutes from Central 214 located at 5680 North Central Expressway. They’re looking forward to serving you as you partner together to help two local charities continue their work right here in Dallas!

Visit Central 214 where you can “Eat. Drink. Get Centered.” Call to make reservations. 214.443.9339.

Are you totally TICKED OFF? Are you BENT OUT OF SHAPE, P.O’d or downright red-faced ANGRY?! Then it’s time to give ANGER MANAGEMENT THE BOOT at the annual FIGHT NIGHT 2010 at The Village Country Club!

Let’s face it, sometimes the only therapy you need is to punch someone’s lights out! If you’re mad at your bone-headed EX, if your boss is such a jerk you can hardly stand it or if you’re mad as a hornet with your freaky roommate, then EMAIL your gripes TODAY to p1@theticket.com and get ready to come out swingin’!

The rules are:
Fighters must be between the ages of 18 and 35  (no exceptions)

Fighters must be within 10 lbs of the opponent

You have until AUGUST 26TH to get REALLY CHAPPED!

WHEN: August 26, beginning at 5pm

WHERE: The Village Country Club. Park at the Dallas Children’s Theater for free and take the P1 Shuttle

COST: No cover for Village Residents

MORE INFO: Theticket.com

Christina María Aguilera was born in 1980 and was first noticed when she competed for the winning spot on  Star Search. From there, she went on to star on Disney Channel’s television series The Mickey Mouse Club along with Justine Timberlake and Britney Spears.

Aguilera is a Grammy award winning artist known for her many philanthropic ventures.  Her efforts for animal rights, women’s rights, missing children and more have earned her admiration from other like-minded citizens. While at times a bit controversial, she remains a growing figure in pop music turning out hit after hit. Her concerts are filled with electric excitement as she does what she was clearly born to do.

Aguilera plays the Superpages on August 10th. Get your TICKETS today!

See the Zoo in a whole new way

With the new Zoo RangerTM, guests can see the Dallas Zoo from an entirely different perspective!  It’s the next best thing to your own PRIVATE and  personal tour with the zookeepers!

With the new Zoo RangerTM hand held device, Zoo goers get a never before peek at the goings-on  behind-the-scenes! You’ll learn new and interesting facts as the device takes you on a trip to the Zoo from the back side with trivia questions and quizzes related to each topic along with pictures and videos you can’t see from where you’re standing.  And you won’t get lost with  Zoo RangerTM! It’s GPS system keeps you on track with maps  and identification markers of facilities like food stops, gift shops and restrooms.

Go at your own pace as the GPS signal triggers video descriptions of the exhibit you’re viewing.  With integrated audio, video, text, and pictures you’ll get the WHOLE  story of the animals and staff at the Zoo. When you pass an exhibit and want to know more, just select the option to “Take a closer look” on the device and BINGO! Before your eyes is another way to learn what there is to know about the animals and their behavior from new and interesting angles. You’ll even get an  interactive series of trivia questions to share with your group!

Learn whatever you want, when you want with Zoo RangerTM’s  on demand system!  No matter where you are in the park, just scroll down the screen and pick your topic.  Zoo RangerTM is small, lightweight and fits into the palm of a your hand so there’s no hassle.  At a cost of only $6.95 for the entire day, you’ll fall in love with Zoo RangerTM!

Head out to the Zoo this summer with your own personal Ranger! You’re less than a 30 minute drive to a whole new look at the Zoo!

photo courtesy wikimedia commons

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